Recontra

And hopefully the umpires working the game did not deprive this young man of an epic possibly once in a lifetime solo triple play!!

I think you're probably right, Max! Good insight.

Just thinking with my fingertips. Maybe what they're trying to accomplish is to eventually get managers to immediately appeal not just the facts (what actually happened or didn't happen), but also the application of the Rules the umpire used to judge those facts. If a possible erroneous Rule application could be "video" reviewed, there might never be a need for a protest to be decided post game. But just like government trying to solve problems with more centralized oversight, the likely result will be even more video reviews and slower games. Protests are rare anyway. Just curious what the basis for the Rule modification is, and the "harm" to the game they are attempting to correct.

Interesting. The mechanic I learned was just to step to the right and towards 1st with a big horizontal point towards 1st (great position to see a tag on the back of the BR), but I was not taught to necessarily verbalize. Although, the verbal I have used is, "Play it!" Everyone understands what that means. But also guaranteed that once I step out to the right parallel with the 1st baseline and point, the Offensive coaches and dugout are all screaming to "Run!" (great verbal understood by the vast majority of batters--but not all LoL). And their combined voices are always louder than I could ever be.

Because we like strikes and we like calling strikes. Strikes get the players swinging the bat, which in turn helps both teams toward the object of the game: Score runs and win! Catcher sticks a borderline pitch, many of us think, “Yeah, I can grab that one and no one will hiss!” Catcher butchers a pitch or slides out to grab a pitch that caught the outside edge, “Nope, I can’t grab that without hearing a load of hiss!” That’s baseball as this amateur umpire knows and loves it. Super slow motion t.v video replay and imaginary yellow 1st down line type strike zone boxes? That’s a game manufactured by multi-billion dollar media conglomerates. Not a game this amateur umpire has or ever will play.

Audio says it's a high school playoff game.

R-1 and R-2. Batter clocks one to the gap in left on a field with no fence and the OB Track & Field track way out there. I start heading toward the 3rd baseline extended for a contested play on BR at the plate as BR rounds 3rd, so I'm 95 feet away from 3rd. I can't tell if BR misses 3rd or hits the inside front corner. BR safe at the plate. Immediate appeal after play for missing 3rd, and my partner on the bases immediately upholds the appeal and calls BR out (lead to the eventual ejection of his father once his yelling turned into calling the BU profane things--don't worry, we had the Home HC perform the act after consulting with the HC--no site supervisor there). Have always pre-gamed that PU has all touches at 3rd. But, it certainly makes sense that BU would have BR's touch at 3rd, since he's got BR into 3rd. Never thought about it before. That seems to be the logical exception to the general rule that PU has all touches at 3rd. At the time of the appeal, I assumed it was my call as PU, but glad my partner immediately made the call, because he was right there and clearly saw the miss. We got the call right, just not sure that we got the mechanics right. Had they appealed to me, I would have gotten together, because I was a mile away, and my partner was positioned for a play on BR at 3rd. What say the experts??

I could use some additional education here, because I don't see how that was obstruction. The runner was running in fair territory as the pitcher fielded the batted ball going up the 1st baseline. He fielded the ball and tossed it to F3 without changing direction, something he has every right to do, and he can't disappear after the ball leaves his hands. Had he caught this ball literally on the baseline and tossed it up the baseline to 1st, and BR ran into him in fair territory as soon as the ball was released, would you call obstruction? Does the fielder making the throw have to change the vector of his momentum to avoid the BR, or does the BR have to avoid the fielder fielding the ball and throwing to 1st? I got the momentum of the throw continuing at the time of the called obstruction. I got nothing on this play. Did the BR change his direction? Yes. In my mind he veered in the direction where he should have been in the 1st place: the running lane with a batted ball being fielded up the 1st baseline. I got the BR in jeopardy of a violation of the running lane rule clear up until he doesn't collide with the fielder making the throw or get hit by the throw. But, that could be one of the many reasons I'm not a MLB umpire! Ok! I'm ready to be flamed 😀 Seriously, I want to be able to see it to learn from it. But I just don't see it.

Trying to honestly review the new Force3 V-3, but I can’t seem to get hit. Have been hit in the inner thigh, in the wrist, in both arms, and have tracked at least a couple into my mask, but my chest and abdomen remain untouched. My Force3 V-3 CP remains untouched. But here’s what I will say so far. This CP is light. Incredibly light. Lighter on my body than the original Force3 V-1, and lighter on my body than my Douglas 3 panel hard shell or my Wilson Platinum. Feels as light as the Cobalt I purchased and then gave away because of the lower extension design deficiencies. Maybe F3 is using a lower density (and lighter) Kevlar layer under the new thicker hard plastic/hard plate “Blast Shield” than the original version that just relied upon Kevlar and high density foam with no hard plates. I don’t know. But the F-3 V-3 is super cool temperature wise and has the same “don’t even know it’s on” feel as the original. It fits tight and hugs the body like the original version, and feels even lighter. I need to get hit hard so I can report. I know what that report will be (when it finally happens), but I can’t honestly say till it does. I anticipate I’ll be reporting that the hard plastic blast shield over the Kevlar layer resulted in “I didn’t even feel it!” protection superior to the V-1 which caused a bruise above about 85 mph. I can just tell that the V-3’s hard plates over the Kevlar layer are going to be that cat’s meow.

A great mentor of mine (one of many!!) once told me in our post game in the locker room that my strike zone was generally fine, but he could tell the couple of pitches I might have missed were because I was not in rhythm with the battery. Good batters are also in rhythm with the battery, sometimes by the 2nd time up, but always by the 3rd time up. If a pitcher comes set (3rd inning or later), and delays and looks at the base runner(s) more than once, and is set a couple/several seconds longer than normal—batter asks for time—I’m granting it—regardless of whether I believe the batter has dust in his eyes. The pitcher may have disrupted the batter’s rhythm with the battery’s rhythm. Touchette to the pitcher! But “Time!” for the batter. And if I’m in rhythm with the battery, I’ll always know when that happens. So, that’s why I disagree with that.

There's a cute illustration in the Evans/Nelson manual of a base umpire hands on knees set, standing and pointing ("That's a balk!"), immediately going back to hands on knees set, and then standing up again to call time, repeat the verbal and point, and then award bases. Helps me remember the sequence and the signalling mechanic. If it's a high school game and you do inadvertently go back to hands on knees set, it's real easy to pop right back up and call time--nobody will notice, and if they do, they'll probably think you must be a college umpire who forgot he was working a high school game 😀

Most new balls are coming in on a dead ball (foul, ball out of play, pitcher goes hand to mouth to ball). I think if a pitcher just wants a new ball, I'd see it's pretty obvious what he's doing and why, and if a runner took off while he's mid-stride throwing the ball to the dugout (dead ball territory), I'd call Time! before the runner got very far. Games are slow enough already with Covid protocols. Just my two cents.

Thanks, Kevin! You made this another "Learn Something New Friday!" 😃

Not a big deal at all, but technically in a high school game, the proper call is, "That's obstruction!"

Because "Time" was called, the ball was dead. So, there was no pitch. The batter was simply hit by a throw made while the ball was dead. He was not hit by a pitch.

Good thread and information. Reinforces my need to ALWAYS come up quick with a "Did he go?" whenever there's a possible check swing with 2 strikes and an uncaught pitch (as well as to make sure I pregame that with my partner). I do that pretty religiously, but it warrants some self-reiteration and to incorporate it into my pre-pitch routine. I've never had the s#$% storm of the OP. Don't ever want to have it: "Then that's STRIKE 3, PLAY IT!!"

(1) Why is base umpire sua sponte initiating his own appeal on a questionable check swing?? And is the base umpire of the erroneous belief that if the bat passes from behind the plate to the front of the plate, it's a strike (even though the batter never offered at the pitch)?? Or, did the batter actually clearly swing, and the plate umpire just closed her eyes on an inside pitch and missed it, in which case the base umpire could properly call time to confer if it was a clear swing--which it obviously wasn't. (2) If the plate umpire changes the call from ball to strike (it's the PU's call not the BU's), then it's a strike, batter out. Batter lost the opportunity to advance to 1st on a dropped 3rd, that's unfortunate, but that's also baseball. That's also why with 2 strikes, check swing, and dropped pitch, we PU's should always immediately come out with "Did he go?" Because if we wait until the catcher requests, and our partner says, "Yes, he did!", then we're in the same situation as the OP.

"He bumped me!" "He bumped into me!" One is really, really bad. One is nothing. 😃 Future Trivia Question: Number of times in the history of college baseball that a defensive player was ejected for bumping an umpire immediately after successfully making a great defensive hustle play for an out? Answer: One.

I'm not one of the leaders here, so it might not be my place to chime in, but here I go anyway. I've noticed some tension (not outright hostility, but definitely tension and annoyance) between umpires in a lot of recent posts on several threads. Tells me we all need to get out and work some more baseball. Also tells me that maybe we should take a breath before we hit "Submit Reply." We are not the enemy! Those SOB's coming out to talk to us a safe distance away are the enemies 😂😂 For me, I'm grateful for the OP and all the replies, because it made me understand that a lawful " 'Step' to a base" is officially defined as "distance and direction." "Distance and direction" is the definition of "Step to a base," but is not the definition of a "step." So, I read this thread and gained a more thorough understanding of the rules, which might help me better umpire a play or manage a situation this season. "That's a balk, no step!" = The pitcher did not legally "step to" the base before throwing there, because he did not gain both distance and direction, even if he stepped somewhere. "That's a balk, no distance and direction!" = The pitcher did not legally "step to" the base before throwing there, because he did not gain both distance and direction. Funny story (maybe): About 8 years ago I was at Jim Evans' week long Desert Classic. A great cerebral clinic by the way. So somewhere in my 1st 3 years of umpiring I ingrained "Ball's on the ground!" as a verbal with a finger point when a fielder dropped a throw. Maybe it was the LL week long in San Bernardino I had been to the previous year. Also a great clinic by the way, especially for physical mechanics. Well at least twice during the Classic I said, "Ball's on the ground." Knowing how slow I learn, it could have been three times. Each time, Jim Evans himself stopped the drills to remind me that the appropriate verbal was, "He dropped the ball!" To this day I still say, "He dropped the ball!" Not because I think "Ball's on the ground!" is unlawfully wrong, but to honor and respect one of my instructors and mentors, Jim Evans. If I go to a Little League clinic or if I am ever fortunate to get up to the Portland/Vancouver area and work a game with BT_Blue, and if he says, "Ball's on the ground" while working the bases, in our post game, I'm not going to say, "You know, you said that wrong." And if I hear him say, "That's a balk! No distance and direction!", in our post game, I'm not going to say, "You know, you said that wrong." Nup! I'm going to say, "Dude, good job grabbing that balk in the 2nd inning!"

Thanks for that! I learn something new here almost every day!! 😀

Sorry if I caused more aggravation. I think we all probably actually agree. As called on the field, no runs score under all rule sets. However, under OBR, the description of what R-1 did and did not do, without more, would probably not constitute retired runner interference, because retired runner interference with a thrown ball must be intentional. Harmony hopefully restored. 😀

I agree with Mr. Maven. In the OP, interference was called on R-1 after he was put out at second, and it was pretty clear that R-1 was called for interfering with the play on the BR at 1st. So even if it were OBR, interference was still called, it would have been intentional retired runner interference, but it was still called, so somebody is going to be out! The OP references FPSR issues (so it was obviously a NFHS or NCAA game), but even if it were an OBR game, interference was called on the retired runner for interfering with the play at 1st base on the BR. Since the play at first on BR is the play that was interfered with, BR is out. It is only if we don't know which play on which runner was interfered with by the retired runner that the runner currently closest to home is declared out. So, I believe that under the OP (even under OBR), no runs score, even if R-3 touched home prior to the act of interference (and even if R-2 is currently the runner closest to home at the time of the interference). OBR 5.08 EXCEPTION: A run is not scored if the runner advances to home base during a play in which the third out is made (1) by the batter-runner before he touches first base; . . . . I think I'm right 😀😀

I completely agree with this, and also agree the point is "completely" lost on many umpire organizations and baseball leagues, who insist on paying for only one umpire, and then wonder whiningly where all the new umpires are. Fortunately, the point has not been lost, and hopefully never will be lost, on my local amateur association or the LL groups with whom I volunteer. Now in my 11th year, I have done, still do, and undoubtedly will do many more solo volunteer games--but I have a level of comfort taking possession of a field. There is also NO DOUBT I never would have gotten past the 1st year or even the 2nd without my experienced partners, my mentors, men and women striving for excellence who have become some of my best friends. Pre-games and Post-games, beers/scotch/Cokes at the local watering hole, going over plays and games, techniques and mechanics. Two and Three-Man Umpire clinics--most put on by volunteers. All that goes away without forced partners. All the fun evaporates as well, unless you've been doing it long enough that "The game has slowed down." And you've been doing it long enough if you know what that means. Bureaucrats and administrators are often short-sighted, but often very competent at sucking the fun out of joy!

Great discussion, Thanks! Anyone have a decent signalling mechanic for "Secure Possession = Firmly Holding it = Catch" followed by involuntary release and the ball drops out after we have a catch--with no intended "transfer"--fielder just drops the ball, but after we have a legal catch?? I've always put my hands together in front of me, shake them like 3 times followed by a hammer while I shout "Secure possession! That's a catch! He's out!" Without hijacking the thread (if I am I can delete), do any of you have a better signalling mechanic for that call? I just kind of made that one up because it felt natural, and it makes the "But he dropped the ball!" conversation really short :-).

It was my youngest son's 20th birthday yesterday. Got to talking about his birth. My wife has no memory of how much pain she was in, all the F-bombs she was dropping, screaming and cussing at me for "doing this" to her. All she can remember is calling my mom to get a ride to the hospital, she thinks she remembers him coming out pretty quickly, and definitely remembers how beautiful he was when they handed him to her afterwards. The whole birth experience was, as best she remembers it, kinda Fun. I was just trying to remember a worst ever game. Honestly can't really remember. Makes me think that my worst game ever still must have been kinda Fun, at least in some sick way 🙂